


Don't Exacerbate in order to Win

by Curly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Fukurodani - Freeform, Fukurodani dynamics, Getting Together, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, Happy Ending, Hugs, Kissing, M/M, Spring High Nationals Tournament Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-07-03 20:03:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15825972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curly/pseuds/Curly
Summary: Akaashi can't sleep and is pleasantly surprised when Bokuto isn't in the room, but in the 26th floor looking at the sky, the very last day before the final match. Deep talks with Bokuto turned out to be more important than what Akaashi thought at the beggining."Don't think about what comes later. Watch the "now", look at how strong we've become." - Bokuto Koutarou.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to get this out of my chest so yeah, hope u like it!

 

It was a promise.

Winning the nationals was a dream that not only Akaashi and Bokuto shared, but it was a collective ambition that all Fukurodani had for as long as they could remember. There was no member of the team that didn't have that goal very deep in their hearts or in their heads, framed in the highest as the supreme goal that someday they had to reach. No matter the cost, winning each match one after another was the daily life philosophy of the players in every training, friendly matches, and in every second they were faced against adversity.

And the interesting thing was that they were players capable of overcoming adversity. Yukie always said, as a joke and also very seriously, that they were capable of big things if Bokuto never lowered his arms and if the rest of the members supported him no matter what. Because Bokuto could easily draw sports spirit even from the rivals who were losing painfully against them. His sportsmanship shouted to everyone that the first to surrender was a coward who didn't deserve to remain on the court. His personality shouted at his rivals that even if they hated him, they would admire him anyway because when Bokuto entered into the zone, he was unstoppable and impossible to not look with admiration. His own mouth shouted, to himself more than to his team, that the match had not yet ended when his will seemed to fall to see the score and not being in advantage, but in the worst of the losses. Bokuto had in himself an essence that always pushed everyone forward, and his team was always the most shocked to follow him, not because he was the captain, but because he was _Bokuto_.

Bokuto Koutarou, the captain and Ace of Fukurodani who always led his team to victory.

And that day, that glorious day couldn't be different. Shouldn’t be different.

There were still hours left, many hours for the game and Akaashi knew it. His brain also knew that it was necessary to go to sleep once and for all, but we can't always have what we want, and at that time what Akaashi wanted was to be in the fifth dream as most of the team members to be ready for the final in the morning, but in his current reality it seemed an impossible mission. It was midnight and being awake watching matches of his opponents was not healthy for anyone's mental health. Not even Washio, who usually kept him company when he watched volleyball games until three in the morning, wanted to keep him company that night.

Advancing to the final had been a long and very difficult journey. Each game was more complex and absorbed as mosquitoes all the energy and motivation of their bodies, but thanks to Bokuto and his incredible spirit, everyone could arrive at the end of the day to the hotel to eat until they were full and then go to bed. The scoreboard always favored them and after moving to the semifinals they seemed to have entered the category of favorites to win the tournament.

And the statistics weren't very far from reality.

Karasuno had won to Itachiyama, who had Sakusa of the top 3. And Fukurodani had won to Kamomedai High, who had to Kourai Hoshiumi a promising and new small giant. The four semifinalists teams had very promising players, but the reality of those who had made bets with different results to the current ones needed to have better analysis of the situation.

Because Karasuno had Kageyama, and Fukurodani had Bokuto. And if that weren't enough, to have players of renown only feeded the hunger in the other members of the teams to grow to be recognized, and little by little, the names of the players of the finalist teams were recognized by everyone. There wasn't a soul that didn't recognize the great players who with many losses and overexertion had reached the end of the goal.

And for Akaashi it was funny how the analysts called the end of the cup the "end" of the goal, when the match hadn't even happened yet and the result was uncertain.

Bokuto on the other hand seemed too enthusiastic after a gratifying amount of reporters said he was top 3 material. Deep down Akaashi was happy for him because Bokuto deserved it. Every smile, every praise, every show of admiration and affection for his person were well deserved and it was warm how happy Bokuto was when he heard other players or professionals tell him that he was doing an incredible job. Akaashi couldn't agree more.

Konoha and Komi, in their own worlds, were happy with the amount of cheerleaders from Fukurodani's cheers that had been confessed to them. Akaashi didn't believe that there was a team player who didn't receive a confession after going to the final, and although it was a distraction, for many of them served to raise their spirits so Akaashi didn't have think so deeply. They were still high school kids and it was normal to get excited about things as mundane as the confession of a pretty girl. It wasn't his case, but he was happy that with most of his friends and teammates it worked positively.

Sarukui, Onaga, and Washio on the other hand, were very grateful to be alive to see Fukurodani go so far. Onaga was still a first-year boy but he managed to be a starter and a great help for Akaashi on the court, and it was good that at least he was going to be on the court with him when the third years graduate.

Moving so far had been something truly positive for both Fukurodani and Karasuno. If we put aside all the nervousness and anxiety that they would have for playing the final in a few hours.

Many fans bet on Fukurodani as well on Karasuno, but nobody would know the final results until it happen. Which was the grace of the bets, make assumptions according to the instinct of each person or according to the results of each team individually in their respective parties, but never being completely sure until the events happen and the results were put on the table. Nothing was true until the last heartbeat and the last point scored making a difference in the score that defines a position of victory or defeat. Nothing was completely assured and it was... _scary_.

Akaashi's brain was terrified but also damn ready to get up and enter the court once and for all. His hands itched and trembled with a desire to have a ball between his fingers to throw it in the direction of Bokuto's moving hands. It was almost a reflection, without even having control over his body, when Akaashi raised his arms and pretended to place a side ball for Bokuto. Not many seconds later he heard a small tap of wood coming from the door. There was nobody but he was almost sure that someone had left.

Akaashi didn't take long to straighten up and look at his sides. All his teammates, Akaashi should be following suit, or were snoring, or were wearing ear muffs, or were drooling on their pillows, but all and absolutely every one of them in the fifth dream.

All except Bokuto.

Curiosity was eating away at his gut and his lack of sleep was not much help, so Akaashi didn't hesitate to put aside the blanket that warmly hugged him to feel a small shiver of the change in temperature as he very quietly left his futon and headed towards the exit.

With his slippers already on his feet, Akaashi walked down the hallway of the floor where they were staying until when he reached the elevator sector he saw that someone had used it to go up to the 26th floor. The last floor of the building.

While Akaashi called the elevator he wondered if Bokuto was being sleepwalker, because he didn't find any other logical explanation for the fact that he was on the top floor of the hotel when he should be sleeping. It was almost impossible to believe that Bokuto, who always fell asleep early and was sleepy, was awake at two in the morning a day before the most important game of his life in high school, making who knows what in a possibly unoccupied floor.

Which by the way Akaashi had no idea if they were allowed to step on.

When the elevator doors opened, the first thing Akaashi saw was a large party room with a small stage on which there was a piano and a few wind instruments. There were a few tables and doors that led to the bathrooms and others that possibly led to a kitchen or a store. Akaashi wasn't sure, but the lights were off and the room would be in total darkness but for the huge windows that let in the moonlight.

It was a pretty luxurious place, and Akaashi had been a few seconds impressed until he could see, as at the end of the room, were a glass door with a giant window leading to a balcony adorned with many flowers and a few armchairs, with an impressive view of the Tokyo city. And right there, on that balcony in the cold of the night, a tall boy was wrapped in a blanket leaning against the rail of the balcony overlooking the city.

Akaashi walked slowly towards the balcony, almost not wanting to scare Bokuto or not wanting to inform him of his presence, until when having to open one of the glass doors, a bell that was on top of it sounded, making Bokuto jump instead and causing him to turn quickly to look in Akaashi's direction. His eyes shone very brightly in the darkness of that cold January night and some strands of his hair fell over his brows and forehead, giving him a more serious air than when he had his hair combed up. His body was completely wrapped from the neck down by the quilt that had previously sheltered him on his futon, and he didn't seem so scared that someone had surprised him, but rather he was relieved that the person who had discovered him had been Akaashi instead of some hotel employee.

Akaashi felt a chill run down his spine before blinking many times and taking the first steps forward, towards the railing where Bokuto was.

"Hey." Bokuto said in a soft voice. Almost inaudible with the quiet but audible noise of the city's nightlife.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, Bokuto-san?"

Getting to where Bokuto was wasn't a challenge, not even being able to withstand the cold of the night was. But what presented as a setback, was to support his hands on the railing and see the landscape of the city from a floor as high as that. The people walking in the streets looked like ants and the colorful lights of the different buildings were so hypnotizing that Akaashi forgot to breathe for a few seconds in which Bokuto smiled leaning against the railing supporting one of his elbows on it and his chin on one of his hands, looking in Akaashi's direction.

"Same thing to you, Akaashi. Shouldn't you be in bed?" Akaashi didn't respond. "Before closing the door I saw you raising your arms, but sometimes when you sleep you do that you know. You do this thing as if you were being a setter even in your dreams, and that's why I thought that this time you also were asleep and dreaming that we were winning tomorrow."

Akaashi looked at his side, more specifically in Bokuto's direction, with a bit of surprise. He knew that from time to time he dreamed that he played volleyball games, but he didn't know that his ambition in his dreams had reached the point of moving so much while in theory he slept.

"Did I really do that?"

"Yep."

"Well, this time I was awake. And I didn't think about anything specific about tomorrow's match-"

" _Today_ 's match!, heyyy, it's past midnight."

"As I said, I didn't have anything specific in my mind." Akaashi looked back at the landscape of the city, ignoring that previously Bokuto also said _tomorrow_ instead of _today_. It was so easy to look at the dark places of Tokyo that you couldn't see from below and leave your head blank. "I was just, thinking that a ball was between my fingers and I had to throw it in your direction."

That answer seemed to ignite something in Bokuto, whatever it was.

"Heyyy! That's already a good omen, Akaashi."

"I'm not superstitious."

"Well you should," Bokuto insisted, never stopping looking at him. "Once when I was little, I think I was in third grade, a girl in my classroom said she dreamed how my favorite volleyball team won a match. And I was on the court playing and scoring the winning points."

"I think the girl was flirting with you, Bokuto-san." Akaashi smiled slightly.

"But my favorite team won that match!" Bokuto exclaimed slightly with emotion and nostalgia, Akaashi ran his eyes to look at him a few seconds, but due to the intensity of Bokuto's eyes he couldn't hold his gaze for long and returned to look at the city. "And the best part is that my dad got tickets for that game at the last minute and I was able to go to watch the game right there. I didn't play or score the winning points, but I was there and I saw them win."

"It must have been... nice."

Akaashi trembled slightly when a gust of wind danced between them. They were at a prominent height and the full cold of dawn, and Akaashi was simply wearing his pajamas. Anyone would think he was insane, and in part he knew he was, he should be in the fifth dream like the rest of his team instead of being on the top floor of the hotel where they were staying chatting with his captain.

"It was. It was very, very, very nice." Bokuto looked at him with great interest before straightening up. Akaashi was about to look in his direction, out of curiosity to know if Bokuto was already planning to go to bed, but surprisingly he turned his head at just the right moment to see Bokuto pull his blanket off to put it gently on Akaashi's shoulders. His neck and ears burned slightly at the gesture his captain had with his bones that were freezing. "It was so nice that remembering it leaves me warm. I don't need this for now, you can have it, you're shaking from the cold."

"T-Thank you, Bokuto-san."

"It's nothing, Akaashi." Bokuto smiled at him before leaning his body back against the railing, but way closer to Akaashi's body. "You know? I remember that I was so happy that my favourite team won that day that I gave that girl in my class a green handkerchief that my grandmother gave me to donate to charity. She was so happy that she almost kissed me."

"Oh, did she?"

"Nope." Bokuto shook his head and laughed a little, as if the memory was a private joke or something he was ashamed to remember. Akaashi's chest contracted slightly as he heard the boy laugh. "The point is, many things in the world don't make sense, finding sense is a pain in the ass and that's why there are people who have the job of doing it for us, but still nothing is completely true until it is proven."

"But there are assumptions?" Akaashi tried. His brain was very overwhelmed looking at the landscape, thinking that in a few hours he would have the game of his life, and finally, his nose was very sensitive to the body odor of Bokuto that had been impregnated in the blanket. "I mean, tests were already done on certain things in the past and from experience some patterns tend to have a certain purpose."

"We are not the weather, Akaashi." Bokuto laughed lightly and as a joke, or so he supposed, made his knee tap lightly on Akaashi's thigh. "We are humans. We are much more complicated than an exercise in mathematics and more complex than the theory of relativity. Our emotions are very important when it comes to the future." Bokuto threw his body a little against Akaashi's. His arms and shoulders were glued to each other and Akaashi wondered if Bokuto was feeling the cold of the night. "For example, although the statistics say that Fukurodani, we, are more likely to win because you guys have me, I can wake up from the worst of moods, not recover, and cost everyone the game. Because the assumptions only calculated my value as a player, but not my value as a person. They didn't take into account my feelings or how my emotions affect me and made an assumption about facts that with a robot could be true. But I'm not a robot. Neither are you, nor is Konoha or Komi or Saru or Washio. We are volleyball players, we know what we do and what we need to do to win, but we are also human. Whatever the result is tomorrow, we will never know until the result exist. But whatever happens, we will have given the best of us."

Bokuto... he was certainly right. Akaashi stared intently at the lights of a building that was far away and thought of how comforting Bokuto's final words were. He didn't know for sure whether they would win or not, but the determination in his voice only shouted that during the match against Karasuno they would do their best as they had come far for a reason, and when Akaashi looked at his side, in Bokuto's face direction, the big boy was looking at the landscape of the city and his eyes shone very angelically thanks to the light of the moon and the neighboring buildings. Akaashi was a few seconds hypnotized by Bokuto's face, until he saw fire in the eyes of his captain, fire full of hunger to win, ambition to raise the cup of champions as many times they had dreamed. The emotions in Bokuto's eyes were so intense that Akaashi had to look at the city again. His brain couldn't process many emotions in those moments, and seeing Bokuto in that way was making his chest cry to get closer to him, and he knew it was crazy and that only his head at two o'clock in the morning would think such a thing.

"But whatever happens, we will have given the best of us." Akaashi quoted Bokuto in a whisper. Bokuto looked in his direction. "Do you think that is enough if we don't win?"

"Oh, Akaashi." Bokuto smiled, this time throwing his head over Akaashi's shoulder with a little shove before raising his forehead again and looking into his eyes. "I know I said many complicated things about the assumptions contradicting what I said about my superstitious side, but I wanted to make it clear that whatever the final result will be, it will be our product and not an analyst or an expert in betting thing. Whatever happens in the game, the results we will do will be ours, and as a plus, your head already thought the final play that will make us win." Bokuto's smile was immense and his eyes shone like those of an owl in the middle of the night in a dark forest, his irises bathed with flashes of the city's nightlife and with the determination of his words. Akaashi felt overwhelmed, almost without air, but couldn't take his eyes away from Bokuto's. "Also, isn't it more fun when we make our own superstitions or assumptions instead of depending on others?"

Akaashi... he couldn't help it. Not when Bokuto was so close and talked like that and it was almost three in the morning.

In a sigh and without thinking about anything specific but his emotions blooming from his heart and wrapping his most important lungs and organs, Akaashi leaned slightly to his side where Bokuto's face was, and without breathing and closing his eyes, he gently clasped his lips against Bokuto's.

His brain wasn't working properly, possibly for the hour and for the cold, but that didn't stop him from pushing his dry lips against Bokuto's soft ones a few more seconds before shyly moving away. When he opened his eyes he felt his cheeks burn when he saw the features of Bokuto's face relaxed and his eyes closed. Akaashi couldn't believe what he had just done and was about to apologize, seriously he was about to say that this was a mistake not calculated in time, until Bokuto slowly opened his eyes and stared at him.

Bokuto's eyes shone with a new determination. Akaashi felt his soul about to leave his body when Bokuto moistened his lips before leaning himself into Akaashi's face.

But Bokuto stopped and Akaashi's soul really left his body.

"This... Does this mean anything?" Bokuto asked in a whisper against his lips. Their faces were practically glued to each other and Akaashi's eyes were a little bright because of how overwhelmed his heart felt. Bokuto's menthol breathing hit his lips when Akaashi nodded slightly to answer Bokuto's question. "Heyyy, what a surprise."

"Oh, shut up." Akaashi didn't feel his cheeks burn, he felt them drown in lava. And he was about to look again at the landscape of the city, but one of Bokuto's hands reached out to take his chin and keep him in place. His eyes involuntarily, wanting it, they watched Bokuto's lips for a few seconds before looking at his eyes.

Bokuto no longer saw him in the eyes. More specifically he was looking in the direction of his lips and his breath mingled with Akaashi's at the same time that his hand that had been on Akaashi's chin was moving up to his neck. And the moment he closed his eyes and thought that Bokuto would kiss him, he felt wet and soft lips sweep over the skin on his cheekbone. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes closed with more pressure when Bokuto's lips kissed his cheekbone, and they moved never leaving his skin to kiss his two cheeks, forehead and nose. Each kiss was barely wet, affectionate, and very intense despite being just caresses against the skin of his face. Bokuto brushed his lips slowly against Akaashi's most sensitive pores until he reached his chin where it seemed to moisten his lips again, and then finally Akaashi felt his warm breath crash against his lips. Almost by inertia Akaashi momentarily opened his lips, and then felt something more humid than Bokuto's lips, which Akaashi supposed was his tongue, caressing his upper lip very playfully and slowly. Then, Bokuto's tongue came down on his way to his lower lip to which he gave more attention. His tongue brushed all of Akaashi's lower lip, moistening it and at the same time savoring it in the cold of that night and Akaashi felt his hands tremble slightly before bringing them to Bokuto's chest.

Finally, Bokuto parted momentarily before kissing the corner of Akaashi's lip, and then simply sticking his lips against the setter's.

Both their lips were wet thanks to the care that Bokuto had given them both, and although the touch was cold due to the night wind and the height at which they were, it was impossible not to enjoy the warmth of Bokuto's hands on his cheeks or how tasty his lips were while kissing his. His breathing was irregular but that didn't stop him from kissing Bokuto more deeply by making his head a little sideways to have more comfort in deepening their mouths, one against the other. A hand of Bokuto traveled to the nape of his neck and pulled their faces impossibly closer still as Akaashi's own arms went up Bokuto's chest and collarbones to wrap around his neck. Akaashi felt the blanket fall from his shoulders and the cold hit him like a wave against his body, but he didn't care when he had one of Bokuto's hands on his waist and the other on his neck pulling him against his body and giving him all the heat that his body needed.

Bokuto's saliva was on his lips and his own tongue was inside Bokuto's mouth savoring whatever he could, when one of them, Akaashi was not entirely sure, let out a little gasp followed by a very soft moan. Akaashi's head was very overwhelmed and his eyes were still closed, but the pressure in his throat and chest didn't allow him to breathe properly and his legs felt weak as hell.

Bokuto noticed it, obviously he noticed it, and he separated slowly from Akaashi, but not before leaving two soft kisses on his lips and one on his nose.

"Wanna sit down?" He asked as he reached down quickly to take the blanket that was on the floor and then, never letting go of Akaashi's waist, guided him to one of the sofas that were adorning that balcony.

The sofas were comfortable and very cushioned and much softer than the futons in the room, and Akaashi looked embarrassed closing his eyes due to the comfort and relaxation that his legs felt as they just leaned back on the cushions. Bokuto looking at him being so comfy laughed lightly and then threw himself next to Akaashi and covered them both with the blanket, then wrapped Akaashi's shoulders with one of his arms making Akaashi to comfortably rest his head on Bokuto's chest, and that made Akaashi to move one of his hands to balance himself on the captain's abdomen.

The night was cold and the wind that danced on that balcony of the highest floor of the hotel wasn't so friendly, but somehow the mix of tiredness of his own head due to the nerves of the match they would have in the morning, the night landscape of the vivid Tokyo city, and also Bokuto's warm body attached to his under the blanket, wasn't a bad combination at all.

"Bokuto-san." Akaashi whispered when he thought Bokuto had fallen asleep. "Tomorrow, no, _Today_ , we will win. Neither the adversity of the suppositions will win against us."

"In that case," a whisper over his hair surprised him a little. But he couldn't help but smile when he felt Bokuto's nose rub against his hair in a caress similar to that of a puppy looking for attention. "It's a promise. A promise of ourselves to ourselves, not a cheap assumption."

"It's actually a bet between us, but we can say it's a promise."

"Akaaashiiiiii." Bokuto whimpered, rubbing his face against his hair and Akaashi laughed lightly. "I'm going to miss you so much."

Akaashi tried not to think too much. They still had enough to live in just hours to worry about the fact that Bokuto would graduate in a few months. So Akaashi just left a short kiss on Bokuto's chest and snuggled a little more against his warm body. His muscles were relaxed and his brain too tired to think or release coherent words.

Bokuto whispered something more against his hair, but Akaashi had already fallen asleep to understand him, or to want to understand him.

It was a promise, despite everything.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Akaashi knew when he woke up was that Bokuto was kissing his face.

First he began with soft kisses down the length of his neck and caresses on his hair, and followed with many kisses scattered all over his face. His cheeks, cheekbones, eyelashes, forehead, nose, chin. There wasn't a single place on the skin of his face that wasn't having special and affectionate attention, while his hair was possibly being transformed into a bird's nest due to Bokuto's hands insisting on squeezing his hair between his fingers.

Akaashi snuggled a little against Bokuto's warm chest and breathed in his body odor. It was totally unfair that people like Bokuto, or Kuroo or Daichi if Akaashi was fair, had a distinctive and strong manly scent. It seemed to be a personal essence of every man with big arms and big legs, and Akaashi was slightly overwhelmed with the essence of Bokuto as he made his face escape from Bokuto's lips to hide his head in his neck and thus prevent Bokuto from seeing him blushing. It was partly humiliating how much Bokuto affected his brain to react not intelligently, but for a change he knew that Bokuto would never make fun of him about it.

"Heyyy, good morning, Akaashi." Bokuto's voice was soft against his ear. "Open your eyes. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this."

"Five more minutes."

Bokuto laughed. Like, he really let out a laugh right in Akaashi's ear who was still trying to sleep a little more.

"You've to see this Akaashi, it's really worth it!" Bokuto again insisted and with a groan of protest, Akaashi blinked slightly until his eyes adjusted to the first rays of the morning sun. The cold January morning used to be deadly for people like Akaashi who didn't have a body heat deposit as Bokuto did.

While he didn't feel cold all night because being practically stuck against Bokuto's body was very helpful, his brain started working again as soon as he opened his eyes and noticed that both were still on the balcony of the top floor of the hotel and he also noticed that in fact, even Bokuto seemed to be going cold.

But when Akaashi looked in the direction of Bokuto's raised hand pointing to a fixed point in the distance, he understood the captain's insistence on wanting him to look.

The sky was bathed in all kinds of bright and vivid colors, pink was mixed with purple and a yellowish orange seemed to be very far away, but ready to battle at any time in the mixture of colors that bathed in heaven, with the slight blue clearly always present. There was just a light and very cold breeze, but Akaashi still straightened up to sit on his legs to look at the landscape better. Tokyo city seemed asleep, and at the same time waking up, did the city even have time to rest? Akaashi didn't know, but the sunrise landscape from that high floor was stuning and Akaashi didn't notice that his mouth was slightly open until Bokuto's fingers pushed his chin up to close his mouth slightly.

"It's beautiful." Akaashi agreed.

"Well, now I have something even more beautiful to see."

Akaashi felt his cheeks burn.

"Bokuto-san, I think we should go back to the bedroom. We don't know what time it is and usually the coach wakes up at dawn."

"Fair enough." Bokuto sighed and before standing he quickly kissed Akaashi's red cheek. Only after his act he did seem to realize that maybe he should not have done that. Not that Akaashi complained, of course. "I-Is it okay for me to do that? We didn't talk much about it and I didn't want to overwhelm you at night because today was an important day and we should focus on other things and-"

"Oi, Bokuto-san, it’s okay." Akaashi also stood up, putting the blanket around his shoulders and walked over to Bokuto to also leave a kiss on his cheek. "Let's not think so much about it and let's go to prepare for the game, okay? Today will be a long day."

Bokuto smiled so cheerfully that Akaashi had to look to the side, if he thought Bokuto couldn’t be even brighter, he was totally wrong.

Before closing the balcony door behind him Akaashi looked at the landscape again only for a few seconds. The orange had begun to fight with the pink and the purple no longer existed and was being slowly replaced by a very warm yellow. Apparently it would be a sunny and pleasant day, and Akaashi, like never before, was ready to go out on the court once and for all.

 

Of course he couldn't have the quiet morning he expected, because despite being wide awake as if he had slept three days in a row, face his teammates from so early still presented as a challenge. Especially deal with the older ones.

"I'm not even going to ask where the fuck you were all night," Konoha told them as they quietly entered the room and took off their slippers, only to discover that most of the team members were awake and already dressing. " _But…_ "

"What Konoha means," Sarukui quickly interrupted, smiling nervously in their direction. "It's just that he saw Bokuto leave the room and when he was about to follow him Akaashi left as well. And since he didn't want to interrupt you, he just waited since he was also a little worried and, well, you never came back. Until now."

"Wait." Bokuto raised his finger very dramatically in Konoha's direction. "You were awake all night?!"

"Hold me before I kill him."

"Konoha what the fuck!" Bokuto laughed out loud and Washio really had to keep Konoha from jumping on him and killing the Fukurodani's captain hours before the big game. "You couldn't even sleep, I don't know, one hour?!"

"I could have if it wasn't because I didn't know where the fuck you two were and I was worried like shit that you won’t come back in time."

"Oh, come on!" Bokuto laughed again and Konoha tried, unsuccessfully, to break free of Washio's strong arms. "We're the captain and vice-captain. We aren't so irresponsible."

"He almost called the police." Komi added with a small smile as he shook his head.

"Aw, I can't believe it! you truly were worried about us-Ouch! Konoha, the feather pillows weigh a lot and therefore hurt more!"

As funny as the situation may seem for the rest of the third and second year members, many first-years were surprised to see the captain being attacked by many flying pillows from Konoha, so much that Akaashi had to step forward to intervene.

"Konoha-san, I'm very sorry if we made you worry. It will not happen again."

"You weren't supposed to apologize, Akaashi. Now I'll feel bad if I keep attacking Bokuto with the pillows." Konoha sighed but threw in anyway, more weakly, a last pillow in the direction of Bokuto who was hiding behind Onaga. "In fact, it's just the fact that you have returned before Yukie or the coach woke up what is better. Yukie would have killed you without pillows and the coach would have helped hide your bodies."

"Before the match?" Bokuto asked with a small pout. It was ridiculous that he was still hiding behind Onaga's body and was sticking his head out of the side of the first-year boy so that he could see in Konoha's direction with great caution.

It was ridiculous and Akaashi wanted to kiss him right there.

"Definitely after the game." Konoha clarified. "Already in itself the idea of having to call the police because you didn't appear was a bad enough idea. You're lucky Saru stopped me."

"I found it very funny." Komi contributed without being asked to contribute. "The volleyball team captain from Fukurodani disappears in the middle of the night before the final of the tournament with the setter and vice-captain of the team and their team members give them up for dead, while they were sucking each other off in some hotel bathroom. It would be pretty funny news."

Akaashi felt many emotions at the same time. First, his heart beated a thousand times in the same second and even though his heart rate was rampant, he could feel how his face had paled because of the suggestion that Komi had made about him and Bokuto. Then, upon receiving a few curious glances, his cheeks of feeling nothing came to burn shamefully to the point that he had to cover his face with the blanket that had previously been sheltering his shoulders.

The next thing he knew, was that a pair of strong arms hugged him and pulled his back against a hard, firm chest, and then Bokuto's voice echoed in his ears, but in a warm and very welcome way for Akaashi's mind.

"Actually, it would be very funny news!" Bokuto laughed slightly before turning a little serious, Akaashi could tell by the way his voice changed. Which was very unfair since he was practically talking over his ear. "By the way, Akaashi and I are very sorry if we make you worry guys. We're important members of the team and to disappear without at least saying how long we would be out was irresponsible and we're seriously sorry."

One of Bokuto's hands went to his head, and next to him, Akaashi tilted his body forward to further mean his apology to his worried teammates.

Konoha was the first person to speak after a long pause in which nobody said anything. Akaashi was still with the blanket covering his head.

"Is it really necessary so much drama at six in the fucking morning on a day as important as today?"

"We don't really care about what you were doing in the bathroom or wherever you two were all night. It's your lives after all." Komi added.

"Don't be embarrassed, Akaashi." Sarukui had the urge to laugh, although there was a bit of affection in his voice. That affection that you have when you are teasing a friend.

"The good thing is that we can go down to have breakfast without Yukie killing you." Washio commented with humor. A few guys laughed, but quickly the room was silent when the door slid behind them.

"Why should I kill them?" Yukie's voice echoed in his ears and his body tensed in place. "And why are Kou-chan and Kei-chan in that position? Are you apologizing for something? Guys, it's the fucking six o'clock in the morning on the day of the most important game of your fucking lives." A pause and then. "And for that very reason I'm going to let it go. Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes and we will be boarding the bus in an hour. Make sure you have everything in order."

After a collective gasp, Akaashi straightened up with Bokuto and decided it was time to grow up and pull the blanket out of his face. When he did, no one was looking at him contemptuously, as he had the experience when he was very young when he presented his preferences, but the only people who still paid attention to him and weren't crazy about ordering their things were Sarukui and Konoha who smiled at him before peting his hair and pat him on the back and shoulder. It was a gesture of much support that Akaashi had to swallow the tears he felt about to explode so he could go to his futon and order his own belongings.

Bokuto was looking at him, Akaashi could feel it in the warmth of his neck, and it was too cozy but overwhelming at the same time. They hadn't talk much really, but many things seemed to be clear, which on the one hand left him at peace and on the other side very anxious.

He really was doing this with Bokuto, and he would take every second as if it were the last.

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lets go Fukurodani !

Really, every second seemed to be the last.

Everything was summarized to that. All those hours of training, all those moments when the bones gave up, sweat fell on their foreheads and chest and their breaths couldn't contain the adrenaline. Everything was summarized to a single match in which there was no other opportunity.

The finals were the most difficult because they weighed in the minds of the players as the end of the goal, but the beginning of something else and every exit is an entry to somewhere else. The marker dominated the course of your destiny, and your ability to make good or bad decisions was put into play. No one had the answer until the answer was presented with even more questions. Sometimes the answers were difficult and the questions very complicated, but the ability to accept that they exist and are there as a challenge was what mattered. The mere realization that something existed was enough motivation to move forward.

Or at least that was what Akaashi wanted to convince himself while the seconds passed and the crowds in the stands shouted names and the cheers sang encouraging songs to their respective teams. The main stadium was even more noisy than any of the previous ones, and although they helped to Bokuto's ego, who entered as if he were the king of the place driving everyone crazy in the stands, so much noise and so many people made Akaashi feel sick a few seconds in which Onaga gave him his bottle with water so that he could drink a little and relax.

On the other side of the court, Hinata, "the boy who could fly" as many called him at this point, looked like a child in a playground as well as Kageyama and Nishinoya. Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi were talking among themselves as they admired the stadium, and the rest as Tsukishima or Tanaka were helping to bring the balls to start the warm-up.

Akaashi didn't make any mistakes in every pass he made to the team members while Bokuto tried to impress the whole stadium with his incredible way of showing off. But Akaashi's nervousness was clear to the second year members as to the third years, that even Bokuto noticed and made them stop a few minutes before the game began.

Bokuto had been in a very happy and wild mood since they stepped on the stadium, but the moment he called each member of Fukurodani to make a round among all and pay attention to him and only him, Akaashi felt in his bones that something would happen.

"Listen guys and listen to me well because I never usually do this. But as you could realize this is a special situation and if I don't do it now I'll never be able to do it and I'll regret it for the rest of my life. But here I go." Bokuto's voice was very firm and serious, every word released with all the honesty of the world that had the eyes of all the members on his person. And Akaashi was truly proud. "No one walks alone, we walk together, and we work and strive and today we're here, together as the team that we are. The finals are won by men, those who aren't afraid of spilling every ounce of sweat for the good of everyone on the team. But to win get in your heads that today we play to win and only to win. Dedicate the future victory to those who are present, to those who today are not with us but look at us from a better place expecting the best, and those who are watching from the stands with pride that we reached so far. Because this moment is yours, of everyone, and will always be marked in your hearts as something great. I will leave, many of us will leave, as well as many will remain. Teams change constantly and that's why the now is the most valuable thing we have right here because the rest is uncertain. Enjoying these moments as a team won't be repeated because life is full of changes and new scenarios. I'm not going to lie to you, I don't want to go empty-handed today, but I want you to know that my heart will not be, because I will always remember this moment with you, guys. We live many fun moments together and we also had difficult times. But always together and as a team, and that's how we're going to win this game today. Together!"

All the members shouted in unison with Bokuto, with their captain, and put their hands in the middle of the round to then shout who they were, that they were ready to go out there and finish everything once and for all. Because they were Fukurodani and they were ready as hell to win that fucking game and take home the cup.

 

* * *

 

 

Seconds became minutes and minutes became almost an hour. At first Akaashi was disoriented, he didn't understand why he heard so many screams and whistles when he had tossed the ball to the side for Bokuto seconds ago, almost as he did in his imagination at night, but the next thing he knew was that many members of Fukurodani were running towards court which It was forbidden unless the match was over and Akaashi was wrapped in a group hug by his friends and second-year teammates.

The confusion was clearly being clarified little by little even though his brain refused to accept reality in front of his eyes. His teammates embraced him until he was airless and from the stands he could hear many instruments bursting his eardrums along with the screams of the cheers. The emotions in his chest were hard to contain, but he managed not to cry in front of his friends.

But then when they finally released him from the group hug, Bokuto appeared among the people and wrapped him in a tight hug as well. It was a more intimate and very affectionate hug, loaded with many feelings that Akaashi no longer wanted to hide or suppress in the back of his head. And when he returned that hug, surrounding by Bokuto's arms with great force, he felt as if everything finally fit where it should and as if the universe were on his side at least once in his life.

Fukurodani had won.

His team had won the national final and the tournament cup belonged to them. To them. To Fukurodani. To Bokuto, the captain who sent them so far. To everyone.

Even though Akaashi didn't want to, he was unable to hold back a couple of happy tears that escaped without permission from his eyes. He felt really happy and seriously didn't think he was living that incredible moment. The adrenaline that still ran through his veins wanted to make him jump out of all the emotion he felt in his heart, and expressing his feelings in Bokuto's arms was much more than enough.

But Akaashi was greedy. And he wanted more.

So, as soon as Bokuto separated to look him in the eyes and tell him that they did it, Akaashi leaned quickly against his lips and kissed him with all the intensity that his heart demanded. Taking Bokuto's as well as many people's breathe away in the stadium, but feeling good about himself when Bokuto smiled against his lips returning the kiss with an even more insistent hug.

It was a slap on his back from Konoha that made them separate, he told them that they had to receive the medals and the cup and that they could kiss in the bathrooms later, which began to be a new private joke among the members of Fukurodani, and made them laugh confusing a few journalists and rival players.

Karasuno wasn't as bad as Akaashi thought they would be, and they seemed more than grateful to have been able to get this far when nobody thought they would. Karasuno greeting them and congratulating them for winning was comforting in many ways, and Akaashi couldn't help but smile at how happy he felt.

It had been a promise. Winning the nationals was a dream that not only Akaashi and Bokuto shared, but it was a collective ambition that all Fukurodani had for as long as they could remember. And they had achieved it, the current Fukurodani had managed to win and there was no emotion more overwhelmingly happy than that.

Akaashi still had another year with the team in which he would be the captain and Bokuto would not be with him anymore. He could no longer shout Bokuto's name in a decisive move that would mark victory or defeat. He would no longer have Bokuto or any of the third-years giving him orders because he'll be the one giving the orders.

The future was a little scary, but Akaashi had promised himself, in honor of Bokuto more than anything else, always enjoying the moment. But not any moment. But that moment when you give 120 percent of your skills to surpass yourself and drag your team with you, and to recreate memories that would always be with him no matter how much he retired next year.

He also had another promise with himself, this one a little more personal, which was to enjoy every second of this little thing that Bokuto and he were starting to build. Because although the future was uncertain, enjoying the present in which they had each other, in order to build a good path to the future, was his number one priority.

And it was a promise. A promise that like the others, he planned not to break and treasure it as much as he could.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel that I was too cheesy during Bokuto's speech, but I wanted to clarify that it was done with the help of my memories of a volleyball game that I played with my team when I was fifteen. Although at that age the captain's words were not so deep, many phrases that she said and were recorded in my memory were used with Bokuto during his captain moment and partly it makes me a little happy. I don't know what Furudate will do with Fukurodani but I like to think of my boys winning so yeah, I feel like I had to write this to live in peace with myself


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3

Spring, like every year, made its presence in the most extravagant way possible.

The wind was still a little cold at night, but the sun during the day, which illuminated the flowers that were opening little by little to a new life, to a new beginning of school year, to a new closure of school year, was warm.

The rays of the morning sun were always the warmest and friendliest in Akaashi's opinion. They didn't attack without mercy and you could even enjoy a good workout without sweating until you were dehydrated. It was nice and very acceptable, not to mention that the landscape of the trees with sakura flowers reborn to a new year was stunning.

However, those sakura flowers, so beautiful in the innocence of a new season of the year, were what Akaashi least wanted to see.

"Beautiful, don't you think?" Bokuto, who appeared at his side with his water bottle in hand, looked in the same direction as Akaashi. Both seemed to have forgotten that they were in the middle of training. The last training with the third year students. "Just like when we first met, ya' remember?"

How could Akaashi forget it? Bokuto and Komi had angered the coach who sent them to sweep the sakura's petals from the entrance to the gym.

The entire Fukurodani academy was full of sakura trees as well as other different flowers, but the volleyball gyms sector was best known for having the sakura trees that helped with the visual aesthetics of the place in spring.

Logically, when the petals fell it was a beautiful sight, but it also dirtied the corridors that were not covered by a roof.

While Bokuto and Komi gathered petals in their hands to throw them to Konoha, whom Akaashi at the time didn't know that well but was who was taking the freshman students to meet the team and the gym, Bokuto accidentally made his presence in a very noisy way, giving Konoha time to escape from his attack.

And since Akaashi sometimes wasn't a lucky boy, his whole body was covered by many sakura petals thrown by Bokuto.

"Bokuto, you idiot!" Akaashi still remembers how Konoha shouted at Bokuto. "How many fucking years do you have?! You will scare the first years!"

Bokuto that day seemed very sorry that Akaashi had been the victim of his prank, so much that when Akaashi took one of his hands to his hair to shake the petals that had fallen there, Bokuto didn't take long to approach him again, even without knowing him, to caressing out of his hair every petal that was there.

Akaashi still remembers the look on his face.

His eyes were as golden and bright as the sun itself, and some rays of the day illuminating his face only helped to make his frown look quite angelic, even though he was laughing at whatever Komi said to Konoha that day.

At some point, Akaashi remembers, Bokuto also went to shake the sakura petals that were on his uniform without knowing that Akaashi had thought of doing the same, and both of their hands accidentally touched each other's. The gesture was too intimidating for two strangers, so Bokuto take to the side his hand with a shy smile, apologizing to Akaashi for the last time before walking away.

However, quickly in a great act of reflexes, Bokuto took a few petals from the floor, and threw them into Konoha's head before starting to run to the gym, fleeing from a Konoha who seemed about to kill him.

That day Komi was in charge of guiding the first year while Bokuto and Konoha received the irritation from the coach for not knowing how to behave.

Akaashi still didn't know him that much, but Bokuto had already become someone interesting before his eyes.

Things hadn't changed that much, three years later.

"Yes, I remember it. You haven't changed much since then, Bokuto-san." Akaashi replied with a sigh and a small smile.

"Oh, but you have changed a lot, Akaashi!" Bokuto said quite positively. "Back then, you were much shorter and had curlier hair. Your skills were just as good as now, though."

A warm breeze presented, dancing aroun the trees following the rhythm with a few sakura petals that fell among the shadows and rays of the sun.

The view was good and his company too, Akaashi would really miss seeing that landscape next to Bokuto next year.

"Bokuto-san, do you remember what you thought of me when you met me? I mean, your first impression of me."

Bokuto at his side hummed a few seconds thoughtfully. The wind was still running and the petals were still falling from the trees leaving an impressive visual landscape, but the only thing that Akaashi could concentrate on was Bokuto and his response.

"I think the first thing I thought was, 'Holy shit, he's too cute,' you know, when you had all those pink petals on your hair and all," Bokuto said and then let out a low laugh. "Yep, too cute you looked like something from a fairy tale."

"Don't tease me." Akaashi complained, but he couldn't help but blush.

"I wasn't!" Bokuto insisted. "Seriously, you were so cute that I was considering whether it was worth throwing those flowers over your head again or not. I even told Yukie and everything!"

"Wait a minute, is that why Yukie-san offered to go with me to the exit that first day when she didn't even know me?"

"Yukie always had an older sister's instinct from the beginning." Bokuto sighed as if he was having memories of something nice. "Anyway, I think she went with you 'cause she wanted to convince you to join the team. You know, everyone was a little worried that the first years would be scared because of me."

"We were scared, in that they weren't wrong." Akaashi smiled.

"My heart would have remain in peace if it wasn't because of what I just heard, Akaashi."

A cloud momentarily blocked the sun, and the warm rays were no longer an obstacle for Akaashi to see directly into Bokuto's face without wanting to kiss him.

"Do you know what my first impression about you was?" Akaashi commented in a soft voice and Bokuto seemed to light up on his own. Akaashi fought not to look aside. "I thought, is this great idiot that just throw petals on me, the incredible Bokuto Koutarou that I saw on television? It has to be a joke." Bokuto put a hand to the back of his neck and his cheeks blushed a little. Akaashi felt with all the strength necessary to continue. "Then, when I saw you train so hard and play the first friendly match of the season to test the potential of the first years and I was the setter of the team where you were, I thought you were the most impressive volleyball player I've ever seen before. I think I fell in love with you in your best shape or something."

Bokuto's cheeks were very red, his brow furrowed, and his eyes sparkled like diamonds. The sun didn't take long to get rid of the clouds and light up Bokuto's face in a wild way that caused Akaashi's heart to speed up. Both were sweaty from training, and they still had to play the last friendly match between the members with the current team, before the third years graduation.

But then a few sakura petals fell on Bokuto's hair and nothing really mattered much.

Akaashi stood on his feet, since Bokuto was on a higher step of the entrance, and he kissed Bokuto's lips with sincere affection.

Bokuto's hands went to his cheeks and caressed his face very gently. Bokuto's lips seemed to have become accustomed little by little to his, and the way they were both connected made Akaashi's heart wishing for more contact. Bokuto took control of the kiss deepening it and savoring everything he could from Akaashi's lips and mouth, before separating and leaving many short kisses on his lips and cheeks with so much love.

"Thank you for trusting me all these years, Akaashi."

Bokuto gently kissed his forehead. Akaashi sighed feeling very happy.

He wished for that feeling to be eternal.

"Those are my lines, Bokuto-san."

The future was still uncertain and the spring was just beginning and the sakura blossoms still had time to bloom, but to the calm of Akaashi's heart, Bokuto had become something new and beautiful in his life, which he hoped would last for a long, long time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Keiji, where are my glasses?" Bokuto entered the kitchen of the apartment they shared.
> 
> "They're in your head, Koutarou." Akaashi replied and wondered why even after seven years he loved this boy so much.
> 
> However, he knew, not long after, when Bokuto came to kiss him and caress his waist as he knew he liked. Akaashi smiled when Bokuto's lips went to his neck and yes, he definitely knew why he still loved this man so much.
> 
>  
> 
>   [x]
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading this piece and I hope you enjoyed it! I got inspired and wrote this part so yeah, this is an edit of the original work i wrote months ago but anyways, tell me what you think about or who do you think will win the cup or what are ur feelings about 3rd years graduating etc!!! 
> 
> [I'm @dorkuto on twitter if anyone wants to scream about haikyuu or fukurodani or bokuaka there <3!]


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